


Brand New Beginning

by BrokenBookAddict



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 7x13, Angst, Dorks in Love, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Empathy, Episode Tag, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt, Life Model Decoys, Love, New Beginnings, Philinda - Freeform, Post-Finale, Romance, They deserved better, coming home, partners, people change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25976503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenBookAddict/pseuds/BrokenBookAddict
Summary: After finding the peace he sought, Coulson pays a long overdue visit.
Relationships: Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Comments: 51
Kudos: 122





	Brand New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Marvel's agents of shield. 
> 
> I do own any errors.

_Four months later..._

Pulling up into the campus car lot, Lola effortlessy glides into a free space and draws more than a few appreciative glances from some cadets walking by. He draws his own fair share of glances as he walks to his intended destination, though no one approaches him to strike up a conversation and it's surprising how many students are still lingering around given the somewhat late hour. Classes were over hours ago after all but then, thinking back way back when, there had always been a reason to linger, especially in the library to study. 

Now, his quiet stroll has come to an end far sooner than he would like as he leans back against a bench, eyes glued to the sign before him. 

_Coulson academy._

Even though deep down he's flattered and proud, he still rolls his eyes at having this vast place named after him. A place where not only this generation but the generations to come, will learn everything they need to know before becoming agents of Shield. 

This is his legacy. 

But it isn't why he's here. 

Staring up at the vast building shrouded in the night's darkness, the windows lit up by lights within, he reaches for his phone. Eyes drop to the screen where he easily finds her name. Though unnecessary he takes a deep breath and remembers his last conversation with Jemma, her encouraging words after visiting for a few upgrades that make him _feel_ a lot more like-- well, _more_... to put it simply. Touching his finger to her name, he lifts the phone to his ear and the ringing seems both painfully loud and painfully long. 

And then she's there, that beautiful voice he's missed so much filling his ear. 

"Hi," he greets quietly. 

"Hi," May replies equally as soft, a note in her voice he can't quite identify. "It's good to hear from you. It's been awhile." 

"I know, I'm sorry." 

"Don't be." 

"So how have you been?" 

"Good, completely and utterly exhausted but I've been good. You?" 

Coulson smiles gently into the phone, feeling the peace he's found settle into his very bones, which of course, he hasn't actually got. "The time I've taken has been good for me. I've had a lot of time to think and-- I'm okay, more than okay." 

"I'm pleased to hear that." She pauses, then asks, "travelled anywhere exciting lately?" 

"Well after everything we've seen and done, the places I've been pale in comparison but, that's good I think. Mundane is a nice change." He shrugs even though she can't see. 

"An alternate reality, outer space and time travel is rather hard to beat." 

"You got that right."

"But the sabbatical, it was time well spent?" She prods gently, searching for the answer to her unasked question. 

"It was." 

"I'm glad," May says and she sounds it. She sounds happy that he's happy with the peace he's found within himself. 

"How are the classes at the academy coming along?" 

"Really well. I'm enjoying it far more than I ever thought I would." 

"I told you." 

May remembers all to well the moment he did, sat together drinking wine under the warm Tahiti sun. "Yeah, you did." 

The line falls silent after that, and it lasts longer than either intends, but it isn't awkward or uncomfortable. 

But the pause gives Coulson the confidance he needs to ask what comes next. So with a deep steading inhale, he does. 

"Did you mean it when you said come by?" 

"I did," she says softly. 

Her answer increases his confidence. 

"I've been thinking a lot about life and everything that comes with it. Living a life alone isn't anyway to live."

"I said the same to Yoyo once." 

"The one thing throughout all of this, the one constant has been you. It's always been you. I loved you before when we were both different people, but more importantly I love you now, as we are now. That comes from me." 

"It comes from me too." 

_Oh_...

"Melinda..." 

"I've missed you." 

Those three words coming from her hold such a weight, its a delicious concoction of exhilaration and trepidation. 

"I've missed you too." 

Silence settles again over the line but this time it's filled with tension, of the very best kind. 

"Are you leaving soon?" He asks eventually, staring up at the building, eyes scanning the rooms wondering which is hers. 

"I was just on my way out when you called." 

"That's good, cos I'm standing outside." 

"What?" May asks, the word wrapped around a soft laugh of disbelief. "You're outside?" 

"Yeah, staring right at my name in big bold letters actually." 

"Don't move," she orders before aburptly hanging up. 

And he doesn't. 

Minutes tick by until she appears at the top of the steps and the sight of her takes his nonexistent breath away. 

"Hi," he greets again softly when she stops before him and it's almost impossible for him to tear his gaze away from her. She's a sight for sore eyes and he's missed her terribly all these months he's been gone. If it hadn't of been for their conversations over the phone, well.... 

"Phil." 

"You-- you look good, beautiful actually. I uh--" 

"Phil, stop rambling." She snorts amused, then takes him in herself. "Finally ditched the suit." 

Coulson looks down at the jeans and shirt he's wearing, offering her a shrug. "A suit is a little too formal for the places I visited." 

They stand there staring at one another. 

May tilts her head, considering him carefully. "You want to say something, I can tell."

He nods, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets. "I do."

"But--" she prompts softly, knowing there is a _but_ coming. 

"But I uh--" 

"What?" 

"I'm afraid," he admits quietly, for the first time looking away from her. In the time since he arrived, the campus has cleared out. Good, the last thing they need is an audience. 

"Afraid of what?" 

"You and your reaction to what I have to say." 

May sets her bag down upon the bench and takes another step closer, her face soft, her eyes understanding. "I can't help you with that unless you tell me what it is you want to say." 

So he does, simple and to the point. 

"I love you and I came back for you." 

And his worry was all for nothing. 

"I've been waiting for you to come back." 

And the latest upgrades Fitzsimmons implemented works wonders because he can feel it, he can actually feel those words create an ache in his mechanical heart, so deep within his chest. 

"Melinda..." 

"We weren't ready then but now..." 

Taking a step closer, closing the distance between them, gentle hands rise to cup her face delicately. Almost afraid she'll shatter beneath his touch, despite knowing her strength. He stares down at her, completely transfixed. "I've done a lot of things while I've been away, visited places I've always wanted to see, eaten some great food, watched movies I've missed and read books I also wanted to read."

"Ulysses," May murmurs quietly, remembering the conversation she had with him about the kiss with her LMD. That seems like such a long time ago, a lifetime almost. 

Coulson laughs quietly. "Yeah Ulysses. I took a month, visited Ireland where it rained nearly everyday and drank too much Guinness." His thumb brushes her lower lip slowly. "Ulysses wasn't the only thing I read though." 

"No?"

"No, but out of everything I read only one piece truly stayed with me." 

It's in the way he says it, that makes her realise the importance of what's to come. "Phil?" 

_"In one timeline we kiss but the stars don’t come down. In another you set a world on fire for me but I perish in the flames. Another and we’re strangers on a busy street, brushing by close enough to send each other reeling off balance but not stopping. Somewhere there’s a final space where your hand on my face is the punchy climax to an epic saga, where the way our mouths meet takes the breath right out of people’s throats. One universe has us right, of all the millions stacked on millions. So it’s not this one. I can live with that.”_

May's lungs seem to fail her because she finds herself beyond capable of drawing breathe. 

"That's us Melinda. I agree with every word because it's us, bar the last few." He tells her quietly. "Why can't it be this one because I can't live with it." 

"Phil..." 

"I don't want to live without you." 

Nothing comes in return to his heartfelt words and the silence stretches on far longer than he likes. As a result, nerves prompt him to start rambling. 

"I know this is a leap of faith kinda thing and I know we're different now, that I'm different and I'm not exactly--" 

"Stop." Her fingers cover his mouth to halt any further words from spewing forth. "Just stop." She stares up at him, her eyes searching his handsome, familiar features. "You are Phil Coulson, you are real. The thoughts, the memories, the feelings, the experiences you hold, that's what make you who you are." She tells him firmly and it's a truth she's taken some time to accept and understand. It had been hard at first to reconcile the two but she had. Because is there anyone in the world who could overlook this chance she's been given if it were them? The answer is easy. No. 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm saying I've lived in a world without you before, too many times and I don't want to do it again." 

"We have a chance to start anew." 

"Yes, we do." 

His thumb now soothes over her cheek, back and forth slowly, ghosting across her skin. His eyes flicker to her lips and when she nods, he takes the point. Closing the gap remaining between them, his lips meet hers for what feels like the very first time, which is kind of true, because they're two very different people now. His kiss is soft, slow and inquisitive, he takes the time to explore and discover, groaning quietly when she opens her mouth beneath his. There's no rush and the kiss lingers on and on, until he pulls away, his forehead resting against hers. 

"Are you sure?" He whispers quietly, his words almost lost in the gentle breeze that ghosts around them. 

May doesn't answer, instead she rests her hand upon his face and kisses him gently. It's a gesture both soft and sweet to end the epic saga of their past, but also a gesture of acceptance, to mark the start of an epic adventure moving forward.

Of a future, together. 

The end. 

...... ....... ....... 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading. Until next time. ❤


End file.
